Fragile
by Lifeguard
Summary: Two murder victims are connected to a waitress, but can Nick save her from the killer? What happens when he falls in love with her? Nickother, GSR & WCR in later chapters.
1. Fragile

Title: _Fragile_

Author: _Lifeguard_

Disclaimer: _Obviously I own nothing, though if I did, things would be different. CSI does not belong to me, nor do any of the characters. I only own the ones I create!_

Archive: _Sure, just e-mail me first and tell me where._

Spoilers: _Um, none that I can think of now._

Rating: _PG-PG13 for violence/language._

Summary: _Catherine, Sara and Grissom try to find the killer of a girl stuffed in a locker, while two murder victims are connected to one waitress. Can Nick save her from the killer?_

Author's Note: _This is my first CSI fic, as I normally write X-files stories. I love both shows, as well as ER. I am hopefully going to start an X-files/CSI crossover fic soon. Any feedback, especially constructive, is welcome. Please read and review, and I will try to do the same for you!_

It was a quiet night at the Blue Moon Diner. Emma O'Brien was nearly done her shift as she noticed her friend Gordon come through the front doors.

"Hey!" she said cheerfully.

"How's it going?" he replied.

"Not bad, slow night though. Can I get you a coffee?"

"Sure. Is Kerri here?"

"She's on her break, probably having a smoke. Nasty habit. I've been trying to get her to quit for years."

"Can I ask you something Emma?"

"You can ask me anything" she answered, grabbing a mug and the pot of coffee.

"Is Kerri free this weekend? Well I mean, do you think if I asked her, she would, you know…go out with me?"

Emma smiled. Gordon and Kerri had been subtly flirting with each other for a few weeks since she had introduced them. She knew Kerri would say yes to Gordon.

"Well you would have to ask her yourself, but I think she's free on Saturday" Emma said winking.

"I want to surprise her tomorrow night. Can you make sure she sees me around ten tomorrow night? I want to bring her some flowers."

"Of course Gordon. She'll love it."

"Emma you're the best!"

Emma blushed and then noticed the time. She was getting off in five minutes.

"I better go. My boyfriend is picking me up really soon, I get to go home early tonight. I have so much reading to do for my classes."

"I should go too. Tell Kerri I said hi, I should get home, get some sleep. Thanks for your help."

"Any time Gordon. See you tomorrow night!"

Gordon hugged her from over the counter and then Emma headed to the back room to get her coat, while Gordon left. She went to the back door and stepped outside to see her boyfriend, Jeff, waiting outside of his black pick-up truck.

"Hey" she greeted him.

"So I saw you with Gordon in there. He comes by a lot doesn't he" Jeff stated.

"Yeah, he's my friend"

"You hugged him."

"Friends hug Jeff, let's drop this."

"Whatever. I picked up your book from him today."

"Thank you. What's wrong Jeff? You seem mad tonight."

"Nothing" Jeff said flatly.

"There's something wrong Jeff. What is it?"

"I said nothing! Get in the truck!" Jeff said loudly, as he got in the drivers side, slamming the door.

They rode back to their apartment in silence, Emma knowing to give Jeff space when something was bothering him. He pulled up to their building and stopped in front.

"Aren't you going to park?" she asked.

"Get out. I'm going for a drive."

"Where…"

"Just go!"

Emma got out, and he pulled away, leaving her alone.

The Next Evening

Nick and Warrick entered a small apartment. They looked around as they approached the bedroom. The place held the typical belongings of a twenty-four year old male, except now the apartment also held police officers and two crime scene investigators.

"Name of the deceased, Gordon Coachman. Cause of death, bleeding out from a knife wound to the neck and a stab wound to the stomach" a cop informed Nick and Warrick.

There was blood everywhere, and Gordon lay in the middle of the bedroom floor face down.

"Any sign of forced entry or struggle?" asked Warrick, as he snapped pictures.

"No sign of a forced entry, but there appears to have been a small struggle" replied an officer, pointing to the blood marks on the floor of the bedroom leading to the hallway and a small table in the hall that was knocked over.

Warrick continued taking pictures as Nick silently took in the crime scene.

"What do you think Nick?" Warrick asked.

"I think this guy knew his killer" Nick answered, moving out of the bedroom into the hall. He looked closely at the overturned table, and saw more blood leading down the hall.

"The victim was stabbed first, he tried to get away from the killer, down the hall" Nick called to Warrick.

Nick walked into the living room, and looked at the coffee table which held binders and text books. Two empty pop cans were also on the table, each near a different chair. Nick thought it was possible that someone had dropped by earlier to the victim's apartment, so he bagged the two cans. He wandered into the kitchen and his eyes fell on the pictures on the fridge. They were obviously friends of the victim at a party. That's when Nick saw the one picture of the victim and a girl, and he immediately registered in his mind who both were. He went back to Warrick.

"Hey Warrick, I know who this guy is, and I think I know where he was last night."

Catherine and Sara walked into a change room of a public pool and met Grissom already inside. Both looked shocked at the site of a body shoved inside a locker. The arms and part of the legs were missing and the torso stared out at them, loosely wrapped in a shower curtain. Blood was pooling at the bottom of the locker.

"A lifeguard was doing a routine walk through check before they opened this afternoon, and she said that it smelled, and then saw blood coming from this locker" Grissom informed the two women.

"Did you find the arms or legs?" asked Catherine.

"In the next locker actually. The killer obviously couldn't fit the whole body in one locker."

"Do we know if the locker belongs to anyone?" questioned Sara.

"No, the lockers are just for public use. I have the locks from both lockers already sent off to the lab to look for prints" Grissom replied.

"Any guess as to how long the body has been here?" Catherine enquired.

"Probably just over night."

"Then how come the maintenance person didn't find it?" Sara said.

"Good question. I am going to find him" replied Grissom.

"We'll stay here and process this" Sara said, while putting on latex gloves, while Catherine started taking pictures.

Nick pulled the truck into the parking lot of the Blue Moon Diner.

"I come here now and then, they have good food. I saw the victim, Gordon come here a lot as well. He knew a couple people who worked here. The picture on his fridge that I found of him and that girl, well the girl is a waitress here. Her name is Emma" Nick said to Warrick.

"And you think our victim came here last night?"

"Only one way to find out" Nick stated as he got out of the truck.

Nick and Warrick entered the semi empty diner, and immediately Nick spotted Emma wiping down a table. She had her dark curly hair in a pony tail, and a pale pink button up sweater on over her blue uniform. She looked up and smiled, and came over to Nick.

"Hey Nick! Good to see you. You want your usual?"

"Hi Emma. This is Warrick, and we're actually here on an investigation tonight."

"An investigation? What happened? Is there someone you want to talk to?"

"We want to talk to you, and then anyone else that was here last night. Do you have a few minutes?"

"Yeah," she said looking at the clock, "my break just started. Do you guys want some coffee?"

"That would be great" answered Warrick.

They made their way over to a booth in the corner, and Emma joined them with their drinks.

"So Nick, you gonna tell me what happened?"

Nick looked at Warrick and then back at Emma, trying to decide how to break the news to her. Warrick knew from what Nick had told him that Emma had known the victim well, and Nick was friends with her. He guessed that Nick was having trouble telling her, so he spoke first.

"You knew a man named Gordon Coachman, right?" he asked her.

"Yes, we were good friends."

"I'm really sorry, but Gordon was murdered last night."

Emma looked from Warrick to Nick, disbelief on her face.

"No, Gordon was here last night. He's the nicest guy. He can't be dead!"

Emma locked eyes with Nick who was sitting beside her. His sombre expression told her all she needed to know. Tears formed in her eyes, and she turned away, wiping them with the sleeve of her sweater.

"I'm so sorry Emma" Nick whispered, touching her arm gently.

They sat in silence for a few moments, as Emma collected herself. She then turned back to face Nick, her eyes red.

"Do you know who did it?" she asked.

"That's where we're hoping you can help us. We need to know what happened last night. Who he talked to, if anyone was with him" said Warrick.

"He always comes alone, on his way home from working the night shift at the casino. He deals cards. Gordon would come here, grab a coffee or something to eat, and talk to me or Kerri…oh poor Kerri!"

Fresh tears rolled down Emma's pale cheeks at the thought of her best friend, and the surprise from Gordon she would never get.

"What about Kerri?" questioned Warrick.

"Gordon liked Kerri. He was going to ask her out tonight…they are perfect for each other."

"Did Gordon talk to Kerri last night?" asked Nick.

"No. He only talked to me. She was on her break. Gordon came in alone, we talked a bit, and he left, then I left. Nothing else happened."

Another waitress, with short blonde hair came over to the table.

"Emma? What's wrong? Nick what's going on?" she enquired.

Warrick noticed the girl's name tag, which identified her as Kerri. Kerri squatted down beside Emma, and touched her shoulder, as Emma was crying again.

"Emma? Please? Tell me."

Emma sobbed out what had happened, and Nick nodded confirmation of the story. The two women embraced each other as Kerri began to cry as well. Nick and Warrick excused themselves to talk to the other staff members at the diner and look in the parking lot. After awhile they still hadn't found anything, so they went back inside. Emma was sitting at the table still with Kerri as Nick approached them.

"Warrick and I have to get back to the lab and process what we found at the crime scene. I want you to call me if you hear or remember anything ok?" Nick said, writing his cell number down on a napkin.

"I will. Promise me you'll find out who did this Nick" whispered Emma.

"We'll do our best, that's all I can promise. Again, I'm really sorry" he replied placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I know you will" Emma said, looking up at Nick with her blue eyes. She placed her hand over his on her shoulder.

Warrick's cell phone rang, and he talked for a few seconds before calling Nick, and both left.

Back at the lab, Catherine was talking to Al the coroner. The body from the locker and it's limbs were spread out on the metal table, and in the process of being examined.

"Well she definitely drowned to death. The marks on her neck would suggest that she was forcibly held under water, and from the smell of her hair, it was in the pool" said Al.

"Chlorine" stated Catherine.

"That's it. Her limbs were severed post mortem, and I would put her time of death around eleven last night."

"Well that would make sense. The pool closed at ten, so the killer obviously had access after then to the facility. Now besides the pool, there is also the gym, and that closes at ten thirty. I bet our killer works there" replied Catherine.

"Do we know who she is yet?" asked the coroner.

"We do now" said Grissom entering the room.

"What did you find out?" enquired Catherine.

"Her name is Morgan Andrews, age twenty one. There was a missing persons report filed for her this morning. When she didn't show up for work today, the boss called her family, who couldn't find her. But that's not the best part. Want to know who her boyfriend is?"

"Who?" Catherine asked.

"The maintenance guy, Jay Braddock. I talked to him. He was there last night, but he left at six, and the evening person came in for him."

"Who's that?"

"Andy Flock, who I haven't been able to get a hold of yet. Jay said Andy had to be there till eleven to close the building. I think we need to go find Andy. Where's Sara?"

"She's with Greg, processing what looks like chemicals found on the victim's body, and looking at a partial print we found on the locker."

"Good."

Warrick and Nick were looking at the results of the DNA testing done on the pop cans found in Gordon's apartment.

"Well, one is our victim, the other is not. Based on the finger prints on the can, they belong to a Jeff Goldwin. He was arrested once before for a DUI" Warrick said, pointing to Jeff's picture on the computer screen.

"Wait! I know that guy too. He is Emma's boyfriend" Nick replied.

He pulled out his cell phone and called the diner and asked for Emma.

"Emma, it's Nick. Did Jeff go to Gordon's place yesterday?"

Nick listened and gave Warrick the thumbs up.

"Where do you think we might find him tonight? Thanks Emma. Bye," he put away his phone and looked at Warrick.

"He was there wasn't he Nick."

"Yeah, he picked up a book Gordon had borrowed from Emma for a class earlier yesterday. I think we still need to talk to Jeff though. Why don't I do that, and you go check out the casino Gordon worked at?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Awhile later, Nick parked in front of the apartment complex where Emma and Jeff lived. He got out and located the number given to him by Emma, and knocked on the door. A tall, blonde man with a five o'clock shadow opened the door, and the television could be heard in the background.

"Are you Jeff Chambers?" asked Nick.

"What's it to you?" he answered.

"Do you know a Gordon Coachman?"

"Yeah"

"Do you know he's dead?"

"Really" answered Jeff flatly.

"We lifted some finger prints from some pop cans in his house, and they belong to you. Were you at Gordon's house yesterday?"

"I was. My girlfriend needed me to pick up a book for her. They went to university together."

"Mr. Chambers, what time were you at Gordon's house?"

"Around 9:30, cause I picked my girl up from work around ten. He invited me in, and offered me a drink. We talked for a bit, that's not a crime is it?"

"We are just trying to gather any information about Gordon's death. So I am assuming that you and Gordon were friends?"  
"Kind of…we hung out cause Emma hung around with him. He was always at the diner she works at. Did you talk to her yet?"

"I did. She told me you went to Gordon's."  
"She told you that huh? Well, I gotta go pick her up from work now, so unless you have a warrant, no more questions ok?"

"Thank you for your time Mr. Chambers" Nick said, as Jeff closed the door on him.

Nick pulled out his cell and dialled Warrick's number, while heading back to his truck.

"Hey. The boyfriend has an alibi, but I don't quite trust him yet. I want to talk to Emma again. Listen, when your done, meet me back at the lab."

Catherine and Grissom sat in questioning room with Andy Flock.

"Andy, short for Andrea right?" asked Catherine.

"Yeah, I've gone by Andy since high school."

"Miss Flock, where were you last night?" questioned Grissom.

"At work, where else?"

"What time did you leave?" Catherine enquired.

"Around eleven, after I closed up."

"Now I know the pool closes at ten, and the gym at ten thirty, and the murder happened just around eleven, placing you as the only one there at that time. Did you happen to see or hear anything happen?" said Grissom.

"Or do anything that we should know about?" added Catherine.

"If you're suggesting I murdered someone last night, I didn't."

"Well you were the only one there that we know of after ten thirty."

"No. Just before eleven Jay stopped by. Said he forgot something."

"Really. How long did he stay?" Grissom asked.

"About ten minutes or so. He went and checked that the pool was locked for me, so I could leave too."

Grissom and Catherine looked at each other, then Catherine asked,

"Did you know the victim? Morgan Andrews?"

"Yeah, she used to stop by and bring Jay dinner, or coffee. She was a sweet girl, what a shame."

"Do you know if her and Jay were having problems? Did he ever talk about her?" Grissom requested.

"I know that they had fought recently, and that she didn't come by as much, but that's all I know."

"Well thank you. We'll be in touch" Grissom finished.

Andy left the room, and Grissom gave Catherine a look.

"I guess we should bring Jay in here next. He never mentioned anything about going back last night" he said.

"Greg got the results back on the partial print we got. It matched a member of the gym. Sara talked to him, he has a solid alibi, and proof that he was there earlier in the day. Dead end. You think the boyfriend did it?" she asked.

"Let's talk to him first."

It was the next night and Warrick and Nick were at the lab talking.

"So what did you find out at the casino?" asked Nick.

"Not too much. Gordon was a good guy, well liked, always on time, until the other day. No one really had anything against him. They all said the same thing: he lived alone, went to school, and came to work. On the weekends he would go out with his friends."

"Well I want to talk to Emma again, about his friends. You want to come with me?"

"No, I am gonna stay here, see what they got off the body, look at the pictures from the crime scene again."

"Alright, I will see you later then."

The bells on the door of the Blue Moon Diner rang out, as Nick pushed open the door. Emma was behind the counter, serving someone, wearing the same pink sweater. She looked up and smiled at Nick, gesturing that she would be there in a minute. He took a seat at one of the tables and waited.

"What's up?" she asked, taking the seat across from Nick.

"I need to talk to you about Jeff."

"What about him?"

"About how he felt about Gordon. What do you know about their relationship?"

"They hung out sometimes, not a lot. Jeff would come out to the same parties that I would go to, and Gordon would be there too. I knew Gordon before I knew Jeff."

"I found a picture of you and Gordon on his fridge. That's how I recognized him" Nick said pulling the photo from his jacket.

Emma took the picture and studied it for a moment.

"Do you want to keep it?" Nick asked her.

"It's not evidence?" she questioned.

"No"

She seemed to think about this for a moment before saying,

"No thank you. I have a few pictures of us already, but Jeff doesn't like pictures of me and other guys together, so I don't keep them around."

Nick watched her as she said this, then asked,

"Did Jeff like it when you hung around Gordon?"

"Only if he was with me. I think he thought that Gordon liked me. He didn't know that Gordon really liked Kerri."

"When Jeff picked you up, did he seem mad? Or did he act differently then he normally does? Did he go anywhere else after dropping you off?"

Emma paused before she spoke, handing the picture back to Nick.

"If you are accusing him of anything, then maybe you should ask Jeff. Look Nick, we're a little busy tonight, I can't talk any more."

Emma got up and began to walk towards the counter.

"Emma, wait. This is really important" Nick said following her.

She grabbed a cloth and went to a table to wipe it down.

"Emma, did Jeff go out that night after picking you up?" Nick asked again.

"Yes. But I have no idea where. He didn't come home till much later…shoot!"

Emma had knocked over a glass that was left on the table, soaking her sweater's sleeve. She took off the pink sweater and Nick noticed that her left arm was bandaged just below her elbow with gauze, and her right arm was bruised in several places.

"What happened to your arms Emma?"

"I fell down the stairs" she said flatly, wiping at the wet table, not looking at Nick.

"Is Kerri around?" he asked.

"No. She took the night off" she replied, turning away from Nick, taking the wet cloth back to the counter.

"Alright. Thanks Emma, but I am going to head back to the lab. If you think of anything please call me."

Emma didn't even raise her eyes to him. She continued working behind the counter and mumbled,

"Ok, bye."

Back at the lab, Warrick greeted Nick as he walked in the room.

"Did you find anything more out from Emma?"

"Something isn't right. As soon as I started talking to her about Jeff she stopped talking, and avoided me. She didn't know where Jeff went after dropping her off, and she didn't want to talk about Jeff's mood at the time. She also had bruising on her arms, and a cut" Nick answered, pacing the room.

"Maybe he doesn't want her talking to us about him. Maybe she knows something more and is afraid to tell us."

"Afraid to say something incriminating about him? Or afraid that he'll get arrested? If he's innocent, she has nothing to worry about."

"Maybe she's afraid of him Nick. Maybe he's threatened to do something to her if she talks."

"I told you I didn't trust him. Did you find out anything from the body or crime scene pictures?"

"Stab wound came from a large knife, and because we didn't find it, we can only assume the killer took. The footprints on the carpet that I picked up were Jeff's, but he was there earlier, so its likely they are from then. Coroner said Gordon had defence wounds on him, looks like he may have tried to grab his attackers arms, before trying to get away. Other than that, the killer did a good job of cleaning up after themselves."

"Let's get Jeff in here to talk" said Nick.

Sara looked up as Detective Brass entered the room with Jay Braddock, and Grissom following him. Jay took a seat, while Catherine watched from behind the mirror.

"So we got some interesting information about where you were the night of the murder" Brass stated.

"Where was I?" Jay said sarcastically.

Jay was a tall man, with short black hair, and numerous tattoos on his arms.

"Well, Miss Flock said you stopped by to get something just before eleven, then checked to see if the pool was all locked up" answered Sara.

"You murdered Morgan, didn't you Jay. Figured you'd stuff her in a locker and try to get away with it" Brass taunted.

"I did not murder my girlfriend. Sure we had a few fights, but I wouldn't do that!"

"But it would have been so easy. Force her in while Flock wasn't looking, drown her in the pool, and stuff her body in a locker. You were bigger than her, you could have easily over powered her" Brass continued.

"Honestly I have no idea how you came up with this story. I left early, and then came back later to ask if Andy had seen Morgan. I was looking for Morgan, cause she said she would meet me at this bar. I thought Morgan may have forgotten that I got off early that night. Whatever Andy told you, I wouldn't believe her. She has this thing for me, and I blew her off, she's mad at me, and is leading you on to take the heat off her! Now if you want to continue accusing me of this, then I want a lawyer! Can I go now?"

"You're not under arrest" Sara answered, as Jay left the room.

"Something is not adding up here" Brass said.

"That's because Andy is leaving out a few details" Grissom stated.

Andy Flock sat in the same room Jay had been in only a half hour later. Catherine, Grissom, Sara and Brass had a new theory on what had happened, and had decided to question Andy about it.

"Andy how long have you known Jay for?" asked Catherine.

"About two years"  
"And you have been working for the same facility as him for the same amount of time?"

"Yes"

"Well I talked to the receptionist, who seemed to know you well. She said you had a thing for Jay" Catherine continued.

"He was cute, but he had a girlfriend. Is it a crime to have a crush on someone?"  
"No, but perjury is" Grissom said.

"What are you talking about?" Andy asked

"You lied to us. Morgan Andrews came by the facility looking for Jay around ten thirty. Jay showed up when you said he did, but by then, you had already murdered Morgan" Brass said.

"What?"

"You had it bad for Jay, and you hated Morgan. The only way for you to have him was to put her out of the picture. So when she came by, you strangled her, and stuffed her in a locker" Catherine replied.

"Jay has an alibi as to where he was up until he came back to the facility. Plus, we traced the calls from your office phone, and the last one was too Morgan's cell phone. You were the only person there at the time to make the call" Sara added.

"It also doesn't help that the chemicals found on Morgan's body were the ones you used last to clean the floor" Grissom said.

"Face it Andy, it was only a matter of time before we caught you" Brass said.

Andy starred at them, then swore under her breath, before putting her head in her hands.

"I hated her" she said flatly.

"Are you confessing?" asked Grissom.

"What else is there to do?" she muttered.

The police officer who had been standing in the corner came over and arrested Andy Flock.

"Love hurts" Catherine said to her co-workers, as they exited the room.

It was the next evening, and Nick picked up the phone in the lab and dialled Jeff's home number. There was no answer, so he left a message on the machine, then called the diner.

"Blue Moon Diner, how can I help you?"

"Hi, can I please speak to Emma?"

"I'm sorry, she took the night off."  
"Do you know where I can reach her?"

"I don't know, I'm sorry."

"Wait, can I talk to Kerri then please?"

"She is off as well."

"Thanks anyways" Nick said hanging up. He then dialled another number. Nick waited a few moments until Kerri picked up on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Kerri, it's Nick."

"What can I do for you Nick?"

"I need to talk to Jeff and Emma, but I can't get a hold of either of them. I was wondering if you knew where Emma is?"

"She doesn't want to talk to anyone Nick."

"Is something wrong?"

"Nick, I really shouldn't be talking about this."

"Why? I need to know. If either of you knows anything about Gordon's murder, you need to tell me."

"Believe me, I want to see Gordon's killer caught, but Emma can't talk to you for other reasons."

"Is Jeff threatening her?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

"Kerri? You have to tell me if he is, I can protect her."

"Listen, and listen carefully, cause this is all I am going to tell you. Emma is here with me, but you can't tell Jeff. She's resting right now, so she can't talk with you. I have no idea where that jerk Jeff is, and she probably doesn't either. Try his cell."

Nick wrote down the number he was given.

"Kerri, can you have Emma call me when she wakes up?"

"Fine, but please don't keep asking her about Gordon, it upsets her. Give her a break ok?"

"Alright, thank you. Bye"

Nick hung up and was thinking about what Kerri had said when Catherine came into the room with Warrick.

"Hey Nicky, how's the case going?"

"Emma's not at work tonight. She's at Kerri's place, and Kerri says we can't tell Jeff she's there."

"Sounds like she's hiding from him" Catherine said.

"I think she might be too. Kerri doesn't seem to think to highly of Jeff, and when I asked her if Jeff had threatened Emma, she was silent."

"I think Jeff is our guy. Let's try that number" Warrick added.

Nick tried it, but no one answered.

"Why don't we take a drive over to his place, see if he suddenly decides to show up there" Warrick suggested.

"I'll drive" Nick answered.

After an hour and a bit of looking for their suspect, they were still empty handed. They had gone to the apartment, to the diner, and where Jeff worked, but had not seen him. They were headed back to the crime lab when Nick's cell phone rang.

"Stokes"

"Nick, it's Emma, you called me."

"Yeah, I need to know where I can find Jeff."

"I don't know."

"Emma, do you have any idea where he might be?"

"If you didn't find him at home, then try these bars."

She listed off a few of them, Nick thanked her and they drove off. They didn't find him at the bars.

"I guess now all we have left to do is wait" Warrick said as they drove away from the last bar.

"Yeah, he's gotta show up at his place or work sometime. He can't hide forever" answered Nick.

They drove back to the lab, opting to review the case for any details they had missed instead of driving around Vegas all night.

As Nick was checking his e-mail at home the next day, his phone rang.

"Hello"

"Nick, it's Emma.." she said sounding worried.

"What's wrong?"

"Kerri went out early this morning, she said she couldn't sleep and was going to this take out place that is open all night. I woke up, and she wasn't back."

"Are you sure she didn't go somewhere else? Did she leave a note or anything?"

"No, I checked. She's not answering her cell phone either. Nick I'm really worried."

"Where are you?"

"At her apartment."  
"I'm coming over."  
"Thanks" she finished, hanging up the phone.

Nick arrived at Kerri's apartment, and knocked on the door. He heard Emma undo the locks, and she opened the door. She had her hair down, covering part of her face, which was looking at the ground. She was wearing a tank top and pyjama pants, with a long robe over top.

"Thanks for coming Nick. Sorry I'm not dressed, I was just going to do that when you came. Come in and sit down."

She led him into the apartment, and he sat on the couch while she went into the bedroom.

"So how long has Kerri been gone for?" he called to her.

"She left around five when she woke up. I saw her leave, locked the door for her. I went back to bed and woke up around ten. I expected her to be back, but she wasn't, and there was no note or anything."

"Well she's not an official missing person till she's gone for at least twenty four hours, but I called it in on my way here, asked the police to keep an eye out for her."

"That's good, and again, thank you."

"She didn't go to class did she?"

"No, we both don't have class till later today. We were going to hang around here this morning."

"Emma, why are you here? I talked to Kerri last night, she said that Jeff doesn't know you're here, and that no one can tell him."

There was silence from the bedroom.

"Emma, is Jeff threatening you if you talk to me?"

Again, there was no sound from the bedroom. Nick got up from the couch and approached the door.

"Please talk to me. I can help you" he tried again.

"You don't understand.." she said softly.

"Understand what?" he asked.

"Just leave it alone please…"

"No, something is wrong, you have to tell me. Please let me help you."

"It's not just threats…" her voice broke with emotion.

"Emma, tell me what does he do to you?"

The door opened slowly, and she stood in front of him, her head down, her hair covering her face, but he could tell she was crying. She was wearing the tank top, and her arms had more bruises than before. She slowly lifted her face to him, pushing back her hair. Nick realized what Jeff had done to her, realized what she was hiding from, when he saw her right eye swollen, black and blue, her lip healing from where it had been cut. There were tears streaking down her face, and a look of fear in her eyes.

"Oh Emma…" he started to say.

"Help me Nick…please don't let him find me" she whispered, fresh tears falling down her cheeks.

He touched her shoulder gently, and suddenly she leaned forward, resting her head on his chest, breaking down into sobs. He embraced her, stroking her hair, feeling pity beyond words for her, and hating her boyfriend for what he had done to her.

Nick had taken Emma to the police station to file a report, and now had a warrant out for Jeff's arrest. He had run into Catherine who had offered her help on the case. After the police station, he didn't know where to take Emma that was safe, so he brought her back to the lab with him. He had left her in the lounge with some coffee when Catherine came down the hall and called to him.

"Nick, I've got some news for you."

"What is it?"  
"The police found Kerri. She was in a garbage bag, in the dumpster behind the take out place she went to" Catherine said, handing him a folder with the police report in it.

Nick shook his head, and looked towards Emma in the lounge.

"She's already been through so much. How is anyone supposed to tell her that her best friend is dead? But we do have evidence now that the boyfriend committed the murder."

"How did you find that out?"  
"Her cell phone. She had a missed call. Jeff left her this message."

Nick pulled the cell phone out of his pocket, and pressed a button. Jeff's voice said:

"Now you have no one to run too. You're mine, and you're next. You can't hide anymore Emma."

"That's pretty damning for him. What are you going to do with her till they find him?"

"I figured that I could take her to a women's shelter tonight, while we work on the case. She doesn't have any relatives here, or anyone else to go to."

"The boyfriend was isolating her. She probably knew he killed the first victim, and when she tried to get away, he killed off the one person she could go to. He most likely beat her after she talked about the first murder. At least she's getting away from him. I hope they find him. Men like that make me sick."

"When they get him I'll make sure he gets the maximum sentence. Look at what he's done to her. She's such a sweet girl, and now she's been reduced to constant fear."

"That's why she's reaching out to you Nick. She trusts you, and she wants out of the cycle of abuse she's in. She's lucky to have someone like you on her side."

Catherine placed her hand on Nick's shoulder as he watched Emma, her back to him, sip coffee. He glanced once more at Catherine, then went into the lounge and sat beside Emma. The female CSI watched as Emma broke down in sobs again as Nick broke the news to her.

Later that evening Nick told Emma that he was taking her somewhere safe, and they drove off to the shelter.

"Nick, would you mind if we stopped by the diner for a minute? I want to get some things of mine, and Kerri's" she asked softly.

"Of course you can" Nick answered.

They rode in silence for a few more moments until Emma spoke again.

"I want to thank you for everything you've done Nick, for taking care of me. You didn't need to come this morning, I know you work nights, but you did. You're a really sweet guy to help me through all this."

Nick blushed a little in the dark car before simply answering,

"You're welcome" while placing his hand on hers.

They arrived at the diner, and he pulled up to the front door. Nick unbuckled his seat belt, and started to open his door.

"Oh, you don't have to come in with me. I'll only be a minute" Emma said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'll be in and out really quick."

Nick didn't really want her going in alone, thinking that Jeff was still out there waiting for her. He looked at the diner, and knew he could see through the big windows into the whole place. Yet he knew he wouldn't be able to see her go into the back room.

"Emma, I'm going to come in and get some coffee. I'll just sit at the counter ok?"

She nodded, checked the makeup that was hiding her black eye, and they went in. He watched her tearfully hug another waitress who had obviously heard about Kerri, and slip into the kitchen. Nick sipped at his own coffee he had ordered, and waited, allowing her the privacy of getting Kerri's things. He waited five minutes, and then ten. When she wasn't back in fifteen minutes, he called to another waitress.

"You know Emma right?" he asked her.

"Yeah."

"Well she went to get her stuff about fifteen minutes ago, and she hasn't come back yet. Would you mind going back there and seeing if she's coming?"

"No problem, hold on a sec."

The waitress went back and he could hear her call out to Emma. She then poked her head out the door and said,

"She's not back there."

Nick jumped up from his seat and showed the waitress his identification, and went into the back room.

"Emma?" he called out.

He noticed the back door was open, leading out to the alley behind the diner. Nick slowly looked out the door into the dark night and called out to Emma again. When no one answered, he swore under his breath and took his radio off his belt.

"This is Nick Stokes requesting immediate back up.." he said as he listed the address of the diner and the descriptions of Jeff and Emma.

"Don't let anyone leave the diner. Tell them the police are on their way" he added speaking to the waitress.

Nick didn't have a good feeling about the situation, as he pulled out his gun and made his way out into the alley, calling out to Emma again.

The alley was dimly lit by the streetlights at either end, and there were a few dumpsters lining it. The back door that Nick had come out of was close to the parking lot of the diner, and he checked that exit quickly, and found no one. He went the other way down the alley, and listened intently.

"Emma? Where are you?" he yelled into the night, moving further down the alley.

"Nick!" he heard her suddenly cry out.

"Where are you?" he called out, moving towards her voice.

"Looking for someone?"

Jeff said, emerging from behind a dumpster with Emma held in front of him. He held a large knife to her neck, and she had terror in her eyes. Sirens could be heard in the distance.

"Let her go Jeff! The cops are coming, there's no way out" Nick commanded.

"If you don't put down your gun, I'll kill her" Jeff answered calmly.

The police sirens sounded closer now, and all of a sudden the shadows in the alley began flashing red. Jeff noticed this and didn't seem as calm anymore.

"Let her go Jeff. If you hurt her, it's only going to put you away for longer" Nick tried again.

"You left her alone Nick. I knew she would come back. It was only a matter of time. It was too easy to get her here. They always leave the back door unlocked" Jeff taunted.

"You son of a bitch let her go!" Nick responded.

Someone called out Nick's name from the parking lot, and a police radio could be heard.

Jeff looked behind Nick in that direction, and saw the police coming, yelling the same orders of drop the knife.

"I guess there is no way out of this…" Jeff said, slowly lowering the knife from Emma's neck.

"Put it on the ground and then back away" Nick ordered.

Jeff moved the knife to his side, but still kept his hand on Emma's arm.

"Let Emma go!"

Jeff nodded, then as Emma moved away, he suddenly pulled her back and rammed the knife into her stomach. In the split second it took for him to do that, Nick fired his gun and both Emma and Jeff fell to the ground. Police officers who had been watching the standoff rushed in to apprehend Jeff, while Nick was instantly on his knees by Emma's side.

Crimson blood stained her pale blue shirt. Nick held her, and put pressure on her wound.

"Emma? Talk to me" he begged her.

Her fragile body was light in his arms, and her breathing was weak. Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to open them.

"Please open your eyes…" he pleaded with her again.

The ambulance siren rang out but to Nick it sounded to far away. There was too much blood. It dripped onto the ground, and covered Nick's hands. He watched her face, and then she opened her blue eyes, and starred into his.

"Nick…" she whispered weakly.

"You're going to be ok. Help is coming, just stay with me Emma."

"Don't leave me…" she trailed off, her eyes closing again.

"Emma! Open your eyes…stay with me.." he begged, tears forming in his eyes.

He heard voices behind him, and paramedics appeared at his side. Nick let them place her on a stretcher but ran with it to the ambulance, and rode with them to the hospital.

The elevator doors slid open and Catherine walked down the hallway of the hospital. She glanced into the waiting room and spotted him. Nick was sitting with his head in his hands, still wearing his blood soaked shirt. She went over and sat beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Nick looked up at her, and she saw the pain in his eyes.

"Have they told you anything?" she asked gently.

"She's in surgery still."

"Nicky, are you ok?"

He turned his face away from her.

"It's all my fault Catherine. I left her alone. I should have known that he would go there for her. She's hurt because of me."

"You know that's not true. You went in with her, you didn't leave her alone. You didn't know that he would go in the back. Nicky, she's got a chance to survive this because of you."

"If I hadn't let her go in there alone…"

"Stop it Nick! Look at me!"

Nick reluctantly turned his head towards Catherine.

"It's not your fault. Jeff would have tried to find her another way if he didn't get her tonight. You were protecting her, and you know what, you did a good job. Emma is going to get through this, and she's going to have a new life because of you. You didn't cause this, you prevented something worse from happening."

Nick thought about this, then realized that there was truth to what she was telling him.

"Thanks Catherine" he said shyly.

A doctor came out of the O.R and into the waiting room.

"You were with Miss O'Brien right?" he asked Nick.

"Yes, how is she?"

"She's going to be ok."

Nick let out a sigh of relief.

"When can I see her?"

"In a few minutes when we get her settled in recovery. I'll send a nurse to get you."

"Thank you" Nick said, shaking the doctor's hand.

"I should get back to the lab. The team was worried about you, but I'll tell them that you and Emma are going to be alright."

"Alright. I'll see you later then."

A few minutes later, a nurse came and called Nick. She took him to a room where Emma was sleeping. Nick took the seat beside her, and held her hand, keeping his promise not to leave her side.

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me know please. There are still two more chapters to come. Constructive feedback is always welcome! (I know the B case was a little on the weak side, but I really wanted to focus more on Nick and the A case than that one.)


	2. Healing

Chapter 2: Healing

Back at the lab, Catherine walked into the lounge to find her co-workers gathered around the table. They looked up at her as she walked in, their faces full of concern.

"How's Nick?" asked Sara.

"He's pretty shaken up, but he's ok."

"What about Emma?" Warrick questioned.

"She just got out of surgery, but the doctor told us she will recover."

"Did Nick stay with her?" Grissom enquired.

"He did. I don't know if he's going to be back tonight."

"That's alright. Brass told me what happened at the scene, if Nick needs some time, he can have it" Grissom said.

"What about the boyfriend, Jeff? Nick didn't say anything about him" Catherine asked.

"Nick got him in the right shoulder. The cops are waiting to bring him in, as soon as the doctors are done with him" Warrick answered.

"That's good. If you will excuse me, I have a ton of paper work to do" said Sara, as she made her way out of the room.

Grissom excused himself as well, leaving Warrick and Catherine together.

"So Nick was friends with this girl before the case started?" Catherine asked Warrick.

"Yeah, he's known her for a bit. How is he really doing Cath?"

"He was upset, and blamed himself for what happened. I talked with him, and I think what happened hit him really hard. He's seems very personally involved with this case."

"He is. He wanted to protect her. Brass described what he saw to us, and it sounded bad. The standoff would have been enough to make Nick feel responsible, but holding Emma while they waited for an ambulance, that would hurt anyone."

"Nick cares about her, doesn't he"

"He does, and probably more than he knows."

"I'm just glad that she has someone like Nick now, instead of that bastard she was with before."

Warrick nodded.

Nick had fallen asleep beside Emma's bed. She had been moved from recovery to her own room, and Nick had refused to leave her side. He didn't want to leave her alone again, not until he knew she was going to be ok. He would never forgive himself if something else happened to her. She hadn't woken up yet, only stirred, and when she did, he could tell she was afraid. Her head would move back and forth, and she would moan in pain. It hurt him to see her like that, and it brought back the image of the alley, and the thoughts of what could have been prevented.

"No…no…"

Nick awoke immediately to the sound. Emma was stirring again, and she moved her head back and forth on the pillow, her hands reaching out in front of her, trying to ward of an invisible attacker.

"No!" she said loudly.

"It's ok Emma" Nick said gently, as he took her hand.

This only seemed to upset her more, and she thrashed out, pulling her hand away from his. The heart monitor went from steady beeps to a high pitched shrill as the beeps increased.

"Go away! Help!" Emma screamed out in her sleep.

Tears began to fall down her terror stricken face.

"Emma! Please it's me, Nick! It's ok, open your eyes" Nick pleaded with her.

He reached out and touched her face, stroking it softly, murmuring soothing words. He again tried to take her hand, and this time, she let him. She calmed down, and the heart monitor returned to it's normal rate.

"Open your eyes" he whispered to her.

Slowly her blue eyes became visible, still glazed over from tears. She looked up at Nick, and he saw the fear still amplified in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"He was after me…so scared…." she replied quietly.

"He's gone now, and he'll never hurt you again."

"He's in my dreams. Promise me Nick…" she trailed off, her eyes fluttering open and shut.

"What?"

"Promise you won't leave me…" she yawned, the pain killers taking over.

"I promise" he answered as she closed her eyes.

Nick kept her small hand in his, while a tear slid down his own face, knowing her ordeal was still not over.

One Week Later

Nick had stayed with Emma at the hospital for the first few days. As the time went on he went back to work but after his shift, returned to her side. Nick would come back to the hospital after work, and the nurses would tell him she called for him in her sleep. He would go to her, and hold her hand while they both slept. Frequently he would awake to her gripping his hand in fear, or calling out in terror. He had his own dreams that filled his head with images of her blood soaked body, so fragile in his arms. He would awaken in a cold sweat, gripping her hand instead. Her steady breathing next to him would bring him back to reality. The nightmares haunted both of them.

At work, Nick would walk around, tired and somewhat distant. He was put on easy cases, as everyone knew what he was going through. Sometimes Warrick would offer to go to the hospital for him, but he refused, knowing that Emma only called for him, and that even if he slept in his own bed, the terrible images of his dreams would still find him, and some how be worse for not being with Emma.

One evening, Grissom called Nick into his office as he passed by the door.

"How is she Nick?"

"The doctors say she's better, and they want to release her soon."

"That's good. Now what about you?"

"I'm good" Nick lied through his teeth.

"Nicky I know your not. You walk around here like a zombie. Are you sleeping at all?"

"I sleep, it's just…you wouldn't understand."

"To sleep; perchance to dream."

"Shakespeare? What does that have to do with this?"

"It's from Hamlet, who also said, 'a dream itself is but a shadow.' Seems like your dreams are casting a shadow over you. You need to let it go Nicky. Emma's alive and well, and you have nothing to worry about anymore. Jeff was caught, and you and I both know that he is never getting out of prison. You didn't cause her to get hurt, and you've done so much for her. You should think about that before going to sleep."

"I know she's ok. Maybe things will get better when she's not in the hospital anymore."

"Possibly. Where is she going when she is released?"

"Well, she has no family here, she hasn't spoken to her mom in years and has no other friends in the area. She's doesn't want to go back to the apartment she shared with Jeff, to many bad memories. So I was thinking that until she gets back on her feet she could, well, stay with me."

"Is that a good idea? By you letting her stay with you, is that you subconsciously wanting to protect her still?"

"I don't know. I don't know if that's the underlying reason or not. It may be, but is that a bad thing?"

"No"

"I just want her to have a place to go where she feels safe."

"And she feels safe with you."

"I guess. It will work out. It will only be until she gets a place of her own."

"Of course Nicky. If you think it will be ok, then do it. Just get some sleep alright?"

"I will Grissom" he replied as his pager went off.

**The Next Morning, Nick's House**

Nick opened the passenger side door of his truck and helped Emma out.

"Are you going to be ok to walk?" he asked her.

"Let's see" she replied.

She stood for a moment, then attempted to walk a few steps, before wobbling. Nick who was by her side, grabbed her elbow and steadied her.

"Must be the pain killers" she said.

"You need to rest" he answered.

In one swift motion, Nick swept Emma up in his arms, cradling her small figure to his chest, while walking to the front door.

"You don't have to do this Nick" she protested.

"And let you fall and hurt yourself?"

He opened the front door, and walked into his living room, placing her gently on the couch. He then went back for her bags and returned to her side.

"Do you want something to eat or drink?" he asked her.

"Anything besides that awful hospital food would be great. How about a glass of water to start with?"

Nick grabbed a glass from the kitchen and brought her the water.

"Thank you again for letting me stay with you" she said meekly.

"It's not a problem. You needed a place to stay, I have an extra room."

"Why are you being so nice to me Nick? I don't think I've ever known a guy like you before."

"Because you deserve to be treated better, to have someone take care of you. Don't ever think less of yourself Emma, you're a wonderful person."

Emma's pale cheeks became pink with blush and she said,

"And you're a wonderful man Nick…" she trailed off yawning.

"Maybe you should lie down for a bit" Nick suggested.

"Not a bad idea"

"Ok, you nap for a bit, and when you wake up, I'll have something ready for us to eat."

"I like this living arrangement already."

Nick took the afghan from the back of the couch and covered her with it. As he brought it up to her neck, he tenderly stroked her cheek. She gazed into his eyes, and placed her hand on top of his on her face.

"Thank you for everything" she whispered, closing her eyes.

Nick watched her for a moment, before heading to the kitchen.

Nick stayed home with Emma for the next two nights, making sure she was alright. The first night, she took pain killers and slept, only waking twice from the nightmares. The second night was different.

The two finished dinner, and Emma sat on the couch flipping channels while Nick cleaned up the kitchen.

"You have so many channels, but it still ends up that there is nothing good on to watch" Emma joked.

"Well, there should be a game on one of the sports channels."

"A game? Your suggesting sports?"

"Alright, not a huge sports fan. Any good movies on?"

"I'll check again" Emma replied, surfing till she came to the movie channels.

"Have you seen this one?" she asked pointing to the title.

"No, heard it was good though."

"Come watch" she said, patting the cushion beside her.

Nick came over, and sat next to her on the couch. He leaned back and got comfortable as the movie started. Half way through, he was intently watching one scene, when he felt Emma shift positions. She leaned more towards him, but couldn't seem to find a suitable situation. Nick glanced over at her.

"Sorry" she said quietly, as she brushed her arm against him by accident.

"Your cold"

Nick took her arm, and guided her over to him, wrapping his arms around her as she lay against his warm body. He placed the afghan over her and she settled into her new spot. The position she was now in was cozy, and Emma tried to concentrate on the movie, but her eyes became heavy. Little did she know, but Nick was very comfortable as well, and also tired. Both soon gave into sleep.

Nick opened his eyes slowly to the light streaming into the room. He began to move, then realized that Emma was resting on his chest. They had both stayed on the couch all night. He then thought that it was the first night that neither of them had experienced a nightmare. Nick smiled to himself as he looked at Emma, peacefully sleeping. He caressed her hair before laying his head back again and closing his eyes.

After reassuring him that she would be fine, Nick returned to the night shift at work the following evening. As he entered the lounge, he was greeted by his co-workers.

"Hey, welcome back Nicky" Catherine said.

"How's it going?" asked Warrick.

"Not bad" Nick replied.

Grissom entered the room with folders in his hand. The room fell quite, waiting for their assignments.

"Alright, Catherine and Warrick will be working on an apparent suicide at a hotel" he said handing them their files. He then continued looking at Sara and Nick.

"The three of us are investigating the murder of a man named Alec Isaac."

Sara and Nick looked over the folder as Warrick and Catherine left.

"It's good to have you back Nick. Your looking better" Grissom commented.

The three of them headed to the crime scene, Alec's apartment where they found him stabbed in the back three times, lying on his bed.

"Definitely looks like a crime of passion" Sara said, snapping pictures.

Nick surveyed the room, and his eyes fell on a picture of the victim and a blonde woman.

"Hey Griss, does anyone know if this is the vic's girlfriend?"

"Yes, a neighbour confirmed that the girlfriend was here earlier. Brass is locating her."

They processed the crime scene, but came up with no murder weapon. However they found a hair on the victim, a partial print and fibres from a sweater on him as well.

An hour later, Grissom walked towards Greg's work area. Rock music could be heard blaring inside and Greg was playing air guitar with his back to Grissom. Greg was playing an air solo, and Grissom just watched him, never able to figure out just went on in this boy's mind. Greg jumped around, and nearly fell backwards when he spotted his supervisor watching him.

"Sorry" he muttered, turning down the music.

Grissom just shook his head in mild amusement, then said,

"What have you got for me Greg?"

"Well, the hair is female, I just need something to compare it to. The fibre is from a blue wool sweater. Find the wearer, and you got a suspect."

"Thanks Greg, and remember, air guitar on your own time."

Greg gave a sheepish smile and nodded as Grissom left the room. Grissom walked down the hall, and found Nick coming his way.

"What's up boss?" asked Nick.

"Female hair from the crime scene. Did Brass get the girlfriend yet?"

"I was just coming to get you. She's here for questioning."

"Good. You look like you took my advice Nick. How is Emma?"

"Much better. She's going to start looking for her own apartment soon."

"Is she going back to work?"

"In two days. She's heading back to classes tomorrow."

"That's great. I'm glad that she made a full recovery."

They continued on to the questioning room, where Brass was waiting outside.

"Hey. Her name is Hailey Jonas, age twenty eight. You two ready?" Brass said.

They nodded and went into the room.

"Miss Jonas, I'm Gil Grissom and this is Nick Stokes with the crime lab. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your boyfriend, Alec."

Hailey Jonas looked up at them from the table, brushing her long blonde hair out of her face. Her eyes were red from crying, and she looked tired.

"How long had you and Alec been dating?" asked Nick.

"Six months. I loved him. I just can't believe he's gone."

"Had you two fought at all? What was your relationship like?" Grissom questioned.

"We were in love. We didn't fight often, maybe now and then but only little disagreements."  
"Miss Jonas, did you know anyone who disliked your boyfriend, that may want to hurt him?" Brass enquired.

"No, he was a really great guy."

"We're going to need a DNA sample from you if you don't mind" Grissom said.

"Why?"

"To match any DNA evidence we may have found in the apartment. If you were there before he was murdered, we can clear your name."

"Ok"

The sample was taken and brought to the lab, where Greg processed it. As the results were printed, Sara came up to Greg.

"Anything yet?" she asked him.

"Tell me I'm the best."

"Just answer my question Greg."

"The hair is a match to the girlfriend."

"Thanks" Sara said, taking the evidence to Grissom.  
They still had Hailey in the room, and Grissom presented her with their findings. Nick had also confirmed with the print lab that the partial print was also Hailey's.

"Miss Jonas, we found your hair and a partial finger print that matches yours at the crime scene" Grissom stated.

"That proves nothing. I was at his house a lot."

"We're going to need you to bring us the clothes you wore on the night of Alec's murder, and we need an alibi"

"I was there earlier in the day, but I didn't kill him. I went out around four and didn't go back."

"Where did you go?"

"To a movie with a friend"

"Can this friend confirm that you were with her the whole time?"

"Yeah, you can call her."

"We will."

"Look, I'm going now ok?"

"Just as long as you bring us the clothes. An officer will come with you."

Grissom left the room, and joined Sara and Nick.

"We can't hold her on anything yet. If her story checks out, we have no other evidence to prove that she did it" Grissom said.

"Why don't I head back to the crime scene, see what else I can dig up" Sara suggested.

"Alright. Nick you go with her as well. I am going to see what Al has for me."

Nick and Sara combed the crime scene over, coming up with as little as they had before.

"The poor guy didn't even know what was coming. He was probably napping when she stabbed him in his sleep" Nick commented.

"I bet she was pissed off at him for some reason. Did we check his phone records, e-mails, anything to suggested he may have been cheating on her?" Sara asked.

"Done already. This guy was clean. All his phone calls were identified and no unusual e-mails."

"Where does this leave us?"

"With one guilty girlfriend who doesn't want to talk."

Sara and Nick met up with Grissom awhile later to compare notes.

"You two find anything new?"

"Nothing boss. You?" Nick replied.

"The murder weapon was a carving knife, most likely from the kitchen. I also got Hailey's clothes, but no sweater."

"We're definitely at a dead end now" Sara sighed.

"No, I wasn't done. There was no sweater, but the tank top she gave us had the same fibres on it we found. This got us a search warrant for her house."

"Great, let's go" Nick said smiling.

Grissom knocked on Hailey's front door.

"Miss Jonas, I believe you already know us. We've got a search warrant for your house."

"What? I already told you where I was, that I didn't kill Alec!"  
Brass stepped inside with the others, producing the warrant.

"I know you did, but you forgot to include in your clothing the sweater you were wearing when Alec was murdered."

Grissom headed to the bedroom, and began with the closet. Nick took the laundry and Sara the dresser. When Sara was done, she began to wander around the rest of the house, and noticed there was another bedroom that someone else was living in.

"Miss Jonas, who occupies this room?" Sara questioned.

"My sister."

Sara nodded and went into the room. She immediately noticed a framed picture on the wall. It was of Hailey, and her sister, who was obviously her twin.

"Hailey, how come you didn't tell us you have a twin sister?"

"You never asked."

"Did your sister ever go to Alec's place?"

"Only if we went together."

"Where is she now?"

"Hayden went to work."

"Hey Sara, Grissom! Check this out!" Nick called.

They found Nick in the laundry room, with a hamper that had been dumped out at his feet. In his hand was a blue sweater, with blood stains on it.

"Care to explain this Hailey?" Nick said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, please no…she…" Hailey stuttered before collapsing into sobs.

"Hailey, do you think your sister killed Alec?" Sara said cautiously.

Hailey nodded and answered,

"I should have seen it coming. She liked him too, but he chose me. She had to have done it. I loaned her the sweater."

"You bitch!"

Hayden was standing in the doorway of the laundry room, a shocked, angry look on her face.

"You killed him because you couldn't have him! Didn't you!" Hailey screamed, lunging at her sister.

Brass grabbed Hailey, holding her back, as Hayden yelled back, being held by another officer.

"I didn't kill him! He was my boyfriend Hailey! You murdered him because YOU couldn't have him! I saw you come in holding that blood stained sweater! You thought I was asleep on the couch! Don't lie to them!"

"Ladies! Please! You're both under arrest until we get to the bottom of this!" Brass shouted over them.

The CSI team looked on in astonishment as the twins were cuffed and led to patrol cars.

"Which one do we believe?" Nick asked.

"Look for distinguishing marks, anything that could tell them apart I guess" Sara answered.

"But even then, how do we know which one killed our vic? They're both going to keep blaming each other. There's a good chance that the D.A. might throw this whole thing out."

"We'll prove it somehow, we just have to listen to the evidence" Grissom added.

Back at the lab, Nick was on break looking at the paper, when Catherine came in. She looked over his shoulder at what he was reading.

"Looking for a new place to live Nicky?"

"No, it's for Emma. She called me to tell me about some of the apartments she found in the paper. She wants to go look at them later tomorrow."

"Well, there are certainly a lot that were circled that are crossed off now. If you haven't been to them, how can you just say no?"

"Well, this one is near where we found a body, this one is in the same complex that we caught a murderer, this one is not in a good area…"

"Nick, it sounds like you're making up excuses for not looking at these places. This one is in a good area, but you crossed it off."

"It's too far away"

"You don't want her to go do you?"

Nick didn't answer.

"Nicky, you like having her stay with you."

Catherine moved so she was facing Nick and looked at him, his eyes still fixed on the paper.

"You don't lie very well do you? It's not hard to see that the two of you have a connection."

Nick raised his eyes to Catherine.

"Maybe" Nick said.

"Tell her Nick. Tell her before she leaves or you'll lose her forever this time."

"I don't want to ever lose her."

I know this took some time to post, but I have so many readings to do, and so little time. I will try, but no promises, to get the next chapter up quicker than it took me to post this one. Tell me what you think, I love feedback, and any constructive criticism. Well, back to the readings, then out to the bar! Ciao!


	3. Here with me

Chapter 3: Here with me

Warning, this chapter is PG-13.

Nick pulled his truck into his driveway, but stayed in his car for a moment. He tried to gather the thoughts that were rushing through his head. What was he going to tell her? Did he want to say it poetically, or did he want to just say it? He couldn't decide. The thought that she might not want to stay with him scared him. What if she said no? What if she just wanted him as a friend, nothing more. He couldn't watch her go away, he couldn't bear the thought of her ever being with another man besides him. It had hit him when Catherine had talked to him how much he really did care about Emma, and caring this much frightened him. Losing Emma would hurt him more than seeing her in a hospital bed again. He asked himself when his thoughts of her had turned from friendship to something more, and he realized that he had always cared about her, ever since she had first asked to take his order. He had only to look into her eyes, and know that she was special. Then go in there and do it, he decided. Nick took a deep breath, then turned off the car, and walked to the front door. He fumbled with his keys before letting the door swing open. He didn't expect Emma to be awake, she liked to sleep in, but the music that was blaring reminded him she had class to go to today.

Lets get it started, lets get it started in here! The "Black Eyed Peas" sang out from the stereo. Nick could hear singing from the bathroom. He turned down the music, and called out,

"I'm home"

Emma stuck her head out of the bathroom. She had straightened her hair, and was wearing a fuzzy pink bathrobe. She smiled at him.

"Hey, how was your night?"

"Interesting to say the least."

"Did you solve the crime Sherlock?" she asked, grinning at him.

"Eventually. We had to resort to this brain scanning technique though."

"Well, I was thinking that when I get back from class around twelve, we could grab a quick lunch, then go look at some apartments. How does that sound?"

"Listen, can we talk?"

Emma raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sure, about what?"

"You moving out."

"How much rent do you want me to give you?"

"No, you don't owe me anything."

"Then what is it? You want a permanent roommate? Cause if you aren't going to charge me rent, I'll stay."

Nick gazed at her, hypnotized by her smile that was making her blue eyes dance. She was beautiful, and he knew he had to tell her.

"That's just it Emma, I want you to stay."

The song changed, and Dido's "Here with me" began.

I don't want to move a thing

It might change my memory.

"Are you serious Nick?"

"Yes. Don't go Emma" he answered, brushing her cheek gently with his hand.

She leaned into the caress, looking into his eyes. She saw what he was saying in his eyes.

"I won't."

I won't go

I won't sleep

I can't breathe, until your resting here with me.

I won't leave

I can't hide

I cannot be, until your resting here with me.

He leaned in, drowning in her eyes. Closer and closer they came, until there lips met in a passion filled kissed.

Oh I am what I am

I'll do what I want

But I can't hide.

They parted for air, but only for a second, before he leaned in again, placing his hands on her hips. She moved closer to him, running her hands up and down his back. Nick drew back once more, and both stood, breathing heavily. He took her face in his hands.

"Promise you'll stay" he whispered.

"I promise" she answered with her whole heart.

Emma guided his hands down to her shoulders, as their lips met again. The pink robe slipped to the floor, and his hands met warm skin and soft cotton. She un-tucked his shirt, and he pulled it over his head. They kissed and explored, then Nick picked her up, holding her to him, and moments later he placed her softly on his bed.

I won't go

I won't sleep

I can't breathe, until your resting here with me.

He took in every inch of her porcelain skin, trailing kisses down her neck. He made his way to her abdomen, and then stopped. His eyes fell upon her now healed wound, and suddenly he was in the alley.

Her skin changed to crimson, and the colour covered his hands. He looked at her face, it was bruised, and her eyes were closed.

"Nick.." she said weakly.

He could only hold her, starring at the blood that was all over.

"Nick"

She touched his cheek, bringing him back to reality. The room morphed back into his own, and she sat in front of him.

"Are you ok?"

"I had a flashback, to that night"

She realized what he had seen in his mind, and pulled him into a hug, placing a kiss on his forehead.

"It's alright. I'm here, I'm fine."

He ran his fingers lightly over the scar forming on her tummy.

"You saved my life Nick."

"You are my life now" he answered.

She touched his lips with hers, and he knew that everything would be alright. The fire that they had started was re-kindled more passionately than before.

I won't leave

I can't hide

I cannot be, until your resting here with me.

Later, he held her as they lay together, never wanting to let go.

Until your resting here with me.

****

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me know please. There is more to come, including some GSR! Disclaimer: I do not own the song "Here with me" I am only borrowing it. It belongs to Dido. Thanks to those who have already reviewed.


	4. Don't give up

Chapter 4: Don't Give Up

The night Nick returned to work after asking Emma to stay, Catherine noticed the change immediately. She saw the smile on his face, one that suggested that he was quite happy about something. She waited till she saw him alone in the hall before asking any questions.

"She said yes, didn't she?" Catherine said, winking at him.

Nick nodded as he blushed a little.

"Things went well" he replied.

"Obviously, judging by that mark on your neck."

A shocked expression came over Nick's face.

"What? Where?" he panicked, feeling his neck.

"Relax Nicky, just joking. But now I know how well it really went" Catherine laughed.

Nick shot her a look of not being impressed.

"Am I to take it the relationship is not going public yet?"

"It will eventually, just not tonight. Give us a little time, it's still new to us" he answered.

"Then stop smiling" Catherine said sarcastically.

"I can't" he shot back, turning towards the lab.

A week or so passed with no one in the lab, except Catherine, knowing about the relationship. Sometimes someone would ask Nick how she was doing, and he would politely reply that she was well and working hard at school. What Nick didn't know was that his co-workers had noticed the same change Catherine had in Nick's attitude, and were just not saying anything about it. It was hard not to notice the way he would smile more often, or be excited to be going home at the end of a shift. Eventually, Nick's friends couldn't stand not knowing any longer, and decided to test how much he would tell. In the break room one night, as Nick entered, they put their plan to action.

"Hey Nick, we were thinking about grabbing some breakfast after shift. Do you want to come?" Warrick asked.

"Where are you going?" Nick replied.

"I heard they have great food at that Blue Bird diner" Sara suggested.

"Doesn't Emma work there? How is she doing Nick? Find her own place yet?" Warrick continued.

"She's alright. No, she hasn't moved out yet, and yes she works there."

"Still living with you…really" Warrick said, raising an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Nick responded.

"Nothing…"

"Has she not found a place yet Nick, or are you letting her stay?" Sara questioned smiling at the last part.

Nick gave a puzzled look to Warrick and Sara before realizing what they were hinting at.

"Have either of you been talking to Catherine?"

"Why? Is there something she knows that we don't know?" Sara asked.

At that moment Catherine walked into the lounge with Grissom. Nick shot her a look, and she threw her hands up in the air in surrender.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"Cath, apparently Nick's told you something that we don't know. Care to explain?" Warrick commented.

"Explain what? If you want to know anything ask Nick."  
"Would someone care to explain this to me?" a confused Grissom said.

Everyone looked at Nick who knew there was no way out of this one.

"Alright, Emma and I are dating."

"I knew you had it bad for her" said Warrick.

"I didn't tell them anything Nick" Catherine stated.

"Wait, you knew?" Sara questioned.

"It was obvious" Catherine replied.

"Ok, enough already. We have cases that need solving, not Nick's personal life" said Grissom.  
"You heard the boss" Nick added.

The conversation ended as Grissom handed out the files and cases.

As the weeks passed with the relationship now in the open, Emma began to drop by the lab. At first it was every now and then to bring Nick dinner, but soon it became frequent. She enjoyed talking with the team or joining Nick on his break. She would bring her readings and sit in the break room to study, making coffee for the group while she was there. No one seemed to mind her being there, as long as she didn't distract an employee while they were working. Grissom made sure that she was never in sight while Ecklie was around, lest he cut off Emma's privilege.

Emma sat in the lounge one evening, pouring over her text book, trying to make sense of what she was reading. The work was beyond frustrating, the class being her most difficult. She sighed audibly, and got up to pace the room.

"Stupid complicated material! I'll never get this" she muttered.

"Get what?" asked Grissom poking his head in the room.

Emma looked up in surprise at the older man.

"This" she answered, pointing at her text book.

Grissom came over to the table, glancing at the human biology text book.

"What don't you understand?"

"The neural transmitting system or whatever it is. I just don't get it, and I need to understand it cause we have the mid-term next week!"

She flopped angrily down on the chair.

"Do you want some help?"

Emma gawked at the night supervisor who was offering to help her.

"If you have time, sure."

"Alright, follow me."

She curiously followed Grissom to the lab where he pulled the clear dry erase board towards them. Grabbing a marker he drew a diagram similar to the one in her text book on it. He then proceeded to explain, as best he could the neural system to her. Emma watched, and surprisingly she began to understand what he was saying. Eventually she too could describe the diagram and the important points that she needed to know. Grissom then looked at his watch and exclaimed,

"How time does fly. I really should get back to my office. Do you have any other questions?"

"No, not right now. But thanks so much for helping me with this."

"No problem Emma. If you ever need anything else explained, I would be happy to help you."

Emma smiled at him,

"That's really nice of you. Thanks."

This began an almost weekly ritual of Emma going to Grissom for him to help her with her studies, or quiz her on what she knew. It was extremely helpful, and she ended up acing the class. Even after her class finished, Emma still went to see the night supervisor. Their relationship became one of mentor and student.

Through this new relationship, Emma began to notice things about her mentor that others didn't. In particular she observed the way he interacted with Sara. She saw the way Sara would randomly stop by to talk to Grissom about a case, or just to say hi. Emma became aware of the change in Gil's mood when Sara was around. It didn't take her long to figure out that Sara wanted the older man, but he was putting up a wall between them. She resolved to try to help bring the pair together, to give them a push in the right direction. It was just a matter of how to do it.

She talked with Nick, who had told her not to count on anything, since Grissom had turned Sara down before. Emma didn't want to give up. She tried to talk causally about Sara to Grissom, but he always changed the subject. Talking to Sara was not much easier.

"So you knew Grissom before coming to Vegas?" Emma asked Sara.

"Yeah. He invited he to come here, but now I don't know if that was such a good idea. Well I mean I like it here, but…never mind."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't get me wrong, I like the team and all, but Grissom and I don't get along the way we used to."

"Are you saying that the two of you used to date?"

Sara blushed, shaking her head. Emma knew she was hiding something.

"No, not really."

"You want to don't you?"

Sara was silent for a moment.

"It's complicated. I don't know what to do about this" she replied, quoting Grissom.

"You should talk to him."

"Believe me, I've tried. He doesn't know what to do about 'this' either. But let's just drop it ok."

Emma nodded, knowing not to push her any further.

She decided to try to talk to Grissom next, to gage how he felt about 'this.'

"Have you ever been to San Francisco?" she asked him the next night.

"I met Sara there."

"Really. Where did you meet her?"

"I used to lecture there, she came to them."

"So how did it come about that you invited her here?"

"I needed someone to help out with an investigation. She came to mind so I called her."

"So you knew her as a student, or outside of class?"

Grissom took a moment before he answered.

"I knew her as a friend."

"You must be good friends for her to pick up and come here for you, and stay."

Emma emphasized the word stay, testing how far she could take the conversation with Grissom. He looked over his glasses at Emma.

"She never had to stay."  
"But she did."

"I don't want to talk about this Emma."

"Then maybe you should talk to her."

"I have work to do" Grissom replied, getting up, leaving the room. Emma knew she wouldn't get any further with him, but she got what she wanted.

Grissom sat in the Blue Bird Diner sipping his coffee. He heard the bells of the door, and nearly spilled his coffee when he saw Sara walk in. She looked around and spotted him.

"Hey, I got an urgent page to meet you here" she said.

Grissom gave her a quizzical glance before replying,

"That's funny, I got a message to meet you here."

"You did. I didn't leave you any messages. Did you page me?"

"No"

"Well if you didn't page me then who did? Well, if you don't have anything pressing to tell me, then I guess I'll see you later at work."

Sara turned around to leave.

"Sara wait. Would you like to stay and have some coffee. I feel bad that someone dragged you out here."

Sara considered his offer for a moment, then nodded and sat down.

"Out of curiosity, what did the message I supposedly left you say?" she questioned.

He cleared his throat, thinking of what the note had said.

"It said that we needed to talk, and you wanted to meet me here."

"Really. Well I don't really have anything to talk about, unless you do."

A waitress came over and brought Sara some coffee. Sara picked up the cup, and underneath was a piece of paper. It read;

Talk to him.

Sara shook her head, knowing instantly who had planted the note and paged her.

Grissom gave Sara a look.

"What's that?"

"Oh, just the bill" she answered, sipping at her coffee, trying to figure out what to say.

They sat in silence for a few moments, while a song played on the radio.

Don't…don't you wish we tried?

Do you feel what I feel inside?

You know our love is stronger than pride…oh

No don't…don't let your anger grow

Just tell me what you need to know

Please talk to me, don't close the door.

Hmmm, 'cause I wanna hear you

I wanna be near you

Don't fight, don't argue

Give me the chance to say that I'm sorry

Just let me love you

Don't turn me away

Don't tell me to go

Don't!…Don't give up on trust

Don't give up on me, on us

If we could just hold on long enough

Sara thought the song was ironic, based on why she was still sitting across from Grissom.

She looked up and met Grissom's gaze. She wondered what he was thinking. Did he ever think about her? About the offer she had once given him? About what she had said to him after he had turned down her offer.

Don't pretend that it's okay

Things won't get better that way

Don't do something you might regret someday…

Don't!

Don't give up on me

Hmm, Don't!

(We can do it) We'll get through it

Grissom watched her, while he also listened to the song. "_Regret"_ he thought, "_that's something I should know about."_ He regretted not spending more time with Sara. He regretted rejecting her after the lab explosion. He regretted pushing his feelings aside for work. He didn't want to give up, but didn't know if she had given up on him.

Don't fight, don't argue

Just give me the chance to say that I'm sorry

Just let me love you

Don't turn away, don't tell me to go

He knew they did have to talk.

"Sara…" he started.

She had been starring into her mug, still listening to the song, and when his words broke their silence, she looked quickly back up at him.

"Sorry, I was…concentrating on the song."

"So was I."

"Grissom, listen.."

"No Sara, I need you to listen."

She gave him a puzzled look, unsure of what he was going to say to her.

"It's funny how sometimes things just become clear, how something as simple as a song can make you think about a situation differently."

Sara nodded. So he had been listening to the lyrics as well. She thought he might have become lost in his own mind, like he frequently did at the lab.

"I've been thinking a lot lately about you, about how our relationship has changed…"

Sara was shocked. He was actually going to talk with her about what had happened.

"What you said to me that day, it's haunted me. I have wanted to talk, but at first didn't know how to deal with it. So I pushed it aside. I regret it. I have thought about it, and I think the lyrics to the song have made me realize that I can't push this aside anymore, that we have to deal with 'this'" he said, stressing the last word.

He watched her, searching for a reaction on her face. He saw her eyes dart down to the table, but she kept her emotions hidden well. He continued,

"I'm sorry Sara…"

She brought her eyes up to meet his. What was he sorry for? Sorry for not talking sooner about 'this?' Was he sorry that nothing could happen between them? Was that what he was implying. She quickly interjected.

"No I'm sorry. I should never have said those things to you, I should have known better."

She starred into her coffee, believing that he would reject her once more.

"You aren't the one who should be apologizing."

He reached across the table, placing his hand on top of hers. Surprised, she glanced at him. What was he doing?

"I'm sorry that I might be too late" he finished.

Sara was stunned. She was at a loss for words.

Grissom watched her face as she took in what he had said. He didn't like to be unsure of things, to not have a plan. But now, he was taking a big gamble. He waited for her to respond.

"Am I too late?" he asked, not wanting to regret pushing her away ever again.

Sara was still shocked, but realized what her supervisor was asking. She was going to take a chance as well and she hoped it paid off.

"No…"

He rubbed his thumb over her palm.

"Good, because I don't want to give up on us."

****

What do you think? More GSR coming! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far!

Disclaimer: I don't own the song "Don't!" It belongs to Shania Twain and Mutt Lange who wrote it. I just thought it was perfect for Grissom and Sara.


	5. Happy Valentines Day

Chapter 5: Happy Valentines Day

Sara looked up at Grissom, his words sinking in. He slowly reached up and touched her face lightly, caressing it. She leaned into the touch, not believing what was happening.

"Let's get out of here" he suggested.

She nodded in agreement.

They followed each other back to her place, giving each some silent time to think about their encounter.

She opened the door to her apartment, and let him in. They found their way to the couch, where he gently took her hand. Both sat transfixed for a few moments, unsure of what to say. It wasn't until Sara touched his face lightly, that he leaned in and kissed her. Her eyes fluttered shut, as the kiss deepened. His hands roamed down to her waist, and she let her own explore the base of his neck and hair.

They broke for air, and again sat starring at one another, unsure of the reality of the situation. Finally she broke the silence.

"Is this for real?" she whispered, praying he wouldn't hurt her again.

He nodded.

"I promise you this is real."

She smiled and this time she initiated the kiss.

Sara and Grissom did a better job of keeping their relationship private at work than Nick and Emma had. But the change in the relationship soon became hard not to notice. It was hard not to notice the way they looked at each other, the way they would talk to each other, the way they would sometimes arrive at work in the same car, or leave together. It took the team about a month, but they did figure it out, even though no one was to surprised. A year quickly passed, and soon another February 14th quickly approached and it didn't go unnoticed. Although their relationship continued, Sara and Grissom kept it under wraps, and no one at work was wiser.

Nick stood in the locker room, changing when Catherine walked in.

"Hey Nicky"

"What's up Cath?"

"Heard you got the night off tomorrow. Big plans for Valentine's day?"

Nick nodded as he smiled. He had asked for Valentine's day off two months in advanced, and he did have something big planned. He turned back to his locker, and took something out of it.

"May I ask what your plans are?" Catherine asked.

Nick faced her, and held out a small box to her. Inside was a diamond engagement ring. It took her by surprise.

"Nick, I'm flattered but I don't think it will work."

He laughed.

"Do you think she'll like it?"

"Of course."

"I know it seems like we've only known each other for a short time, but Emma's the only one for me, and I know it."

"As long as your sure. How are you going to ask her?"

"Well we have reservations for dinner at this exclusive restaurant she's been dying to go to, then I've arranged for a horse drawn carriage ride in the park. We're going to end up in this secluded area, where there will be a blanket and wine waiting under the stars. Then I'll do it."

"That sounds absolutely perfect Nick."

"Thanks."  
"Well good luck then."

Elsewhere in the building, Sara approached Grissom's office.

"Hey" she greeted him, standing in the doorway.

He glanced up from his work, smiling at her.

"So, do we have any plans for tomorrow?" she asked coyly.

"Besides any new cases?" he answered.

Sara gave him a look.

"You do know what tomorrow is don't you?"

"The fourteenth, why is that significant?"

"It's Valentine's day."

"You mean an overrated corporate holiday that's just a big cash grab?"

"I guess you could put it that way. So we're not doing anything then?"

"No" Grissom answered, returning to his reading.

Sara gaped at him for a moment before stalking off, unable to believe that he was going to blow off Valentine's day to her.

Grissom watched her leave then picked up the phone.

Early the next night, Nick and Emma prepared for their evening out.

"Nicky, you gotta tell me where we're going" she pleaded with him.

"No, it's a surprise" he smiled slyly.

"How will I know what to wear?"

"You'd look gorgeous in anything."

She blushed.

"Casual or dressy?"

"Dressy."

His cell phone rang, and he picked it up off the bed.

"Stokes"

Emma watched as Nick's smile faded from his face.

"You've got to be kidding me" he said into the phone.

Nick continued to listen, pacing the room.

"Fine! I'll be there soon" he finished, pocketing his phone.

Emma gave him a puzzled look.

"Baby, I'm so sorry…"

"It was Grissom wasn't it."

"It's a big case and they need everyone there."

"It's alright, it's work" she sighed.

"No it's not Emma. I wanted to take you out."

"Go, maybe you'll get off early."

"I'll try to get out of there as soon as I can" he said, pulling her into a hug.

Nick arrived at the crime scene half an hour later. He stalked into the hotel and asked an officer where the primary scene was. He was directed to a room, and on his way he nearly collided with Sara.

"Hey" he said to her.

"Hey."

"Where's Grissom? This is supposed to be my night off to take Emma out. I need to get out of here as soon as I can."

"At least you have plans for tonight" she said sarcastically.

"You mean you and Grissom don't have any plans tonight?"

"No. He thinks it's a meaningless corporate holiday."

"Ouch."

"Tell me about it."

"Maybe he's saving a surprise for the end of the night. Didn't he do something special for you at Christmas?"  
"Yeah," she said smiling at the memory.

"See, maybe he still has something up his sleeve."

"Doubtfull. We have our hands full tonight with this."

"What do we have?"  
"Triple homicide. We've got three girls, murdered in the same way, in three different hotels. Warrick and Catherine are at the other two crime scenes. I think Greg is with Catherine. We're here, and Grissom is floating between the three."

They approached the room and Sara opened the door. Inside was a woman on the bed, and Nick nearly gagged at the sight. There was a whole in her chest and blood everywhere.

"Each victim is missing their heart. We think that the vics probably knew their attacker, were brought to the hotel rooms, drugged, then killed."

"Somebody doesn't like Valentine's day. How did this guy manage to kill these women and not walk out of here covered in blood?"  
"Well he didn't dump any dirty clothes, but the shower curtains are gone from each room. He might have covered himself, worn gloves, then taken the curtain with him, possibly in an overnight bag."

"Are the victims connected besides murder? Did they know each other?"

"Haven't gotten that far yet. Grissom was checking up on that."

"Alright, then lets process the room."

The room provided little evidence. The body was taken to the morgue, in hopes that it would provide more clues.

Later the team sat in the break room, trying to put their ideas and the evidence together.

"All three hotels said that the victims checked in alone, under their own names. All three hotels didn't notice a man coming in after the victims, they said tonight is a busy night" Grissom stated.

At his last remark, Sara shot him a discontented look.

"Archie is reviewing security footage for us, and hopefully that will give us something. We know all of the victims were killed in the same way. Dr. Robbins determined that each victim had their heart cut out with a large knife, as the cuts were messy, so we can rule out any surgeons or doctors. Tox results confirmed each victim was chloroformed before the removal of the heart. We know the shower curtains are missing, and that with the lack of prints, the killer wore gloves. Assuming this was a crime of passion, then the victims knew their killer. I found out that all the victims worked at the same office. The employees are being rounded up for questioning right now by Brass. So we have to find out who has three human hearts in their possession. Any ideas?"

Nick glanced down at his watch, noting that the reservations he had with Emma were now worthless. He didn't pay attention to what Catherine was saying. He finally clicked back into reality when Brass stuck his head in the room.

"We have all the employees here. Out of fifteen, ten have solid alibis that involved plans for tonight and disgruntled significant others now that we have pulled them away from said plans."

Nick looked at Sara who was sitting across the table from him. She rolled her eyes and Nick sighed in agreement with Brass' comment.

"So what about the five others?"

"Two female, three male. Two girls claim they were home alone. We are waiting on phone record confirmation for both. One guy says he was at a bar all night, again waiting for that to check out, another says he was sleeping, and the last one said he was at a casino."

"Let's go talk to them" Grissom said.

The two females both got confirmation of their stories and were cleared. The guy who said he was at the bar got the bartender to verify his story, leaving only two men left. Both knew the three victims. Between questioning, Nick approached Grissom.

"Grissom, do you think, now that we have narrowed our suspect list, that I could get out of here? It's my night off, I asked for this off two months ago."

"No Nick, you know I still need you here. If we get anything that gets us a search warrant for either of their cars or homes, I need you to process them."

Nick rubbed his neck, trying to contain his frustration.

"Fine" he said flatly.

Grissom left to check on Archie, leaving Nick in the hall.

"Man you look pissed" Warrick commented as he approached his friend.

"Just because he has no intention of doing anything special tonight with Sara doesn't mean he's gotta keep the rest of us here to suffer as well."

"You know we need to be here."

"But its under control. We have two suspects. I could be on call instead right now. Instead my plans for Emma tonight have been almost ruined. If I leave now, we could still make it to the park" Nick answered, shaking his head at the time.

"Sorry about the plans, but I think their dead. We're going to be here for awhile still."

Nick swore under his breath and pulled out his cell phone to apologize to Emma again.

Catherine wandered into Archie's lab.

"What have we got?" she asked the men starring at the computer screens.

"One suspicious looking guy. Watch" answered Archie.

He played three videos from the hotels, showing the same man entering about ten minutes after each victim. He wore a hat, the brim low, shielding his face from the surveillance cameras. He carried a black duffle bag with him. In each video he entered the hotel in one set of clothes and exited in another.

"Archie, can you focus in on his face?" Grissom asked.

He typed something into the computer, and the man's face was magnified. Archie put stills of the man from each hotel beside each other for comparison. The man wore the same hat in each one. In two of the stills he wore glasses. They could only see a bit of his face. Catherine starred at the picture, and noticed something on the man's upper lip.

"Can you magnify his lip some more?" she asked.

Archie did, and they all noticed a scar slicing through the man's upper lip.

"I've seen that before, on Andy Kent, the first guy we questioned" Catherine said.

"Let's get a warrant for his house and car then" Grissom answered.

Nick and Sara were sent to process the car, while Warrick, Greg and Catherine took his house. In his basement in a garbage bag, Greg found his bloody clothes, the shower curtains and a knife.

They returned to question him again.

"So where are the hearts Andy?" Grissom asked.

The man was silent on his lawyers advice.

"We found your bloody clothes, and all we have to do is match the victims blood to it" Nick added.

Andy looked up at the men.

"I hated those three. They toyed with my emotions…"

"Mr. Kent, that's enough" his lawyer interjected, but he continued.

"I lured them to the hotels, left them notes from secret admirers, knew they would fall for it, stupid love sick women. I ripped out their hearts, like they ripped out mine. The hearts I buried in the vacant lot down the street from my house. I hate Valentine's day."

The police arrested Andy Kent and Nick left the room, eager to finally be going home soon. He drove back to the lab with the others. He was writing up his report in the lab when Catherine walked by.

"Hey, Warrick wants to see you in the break room" she said.

Nick nodded, and got up. He approached the room, and did a double take when Warrick wasn't in there. Instead, Emma stood inside. She was wearing a pale pink dress that Nick thought looked stunning on her. On the table were take out containers, and soft music was playing in the background.

"What are you doing here? What's all this?" he asked, approaching her.

"Well, I thought that if we couldn't go out, I would bring Valentine's day to you."

"That's really nice of you" he said, taking her hands.

"I got us some food, thought that you could take a little break from this case."

"Emma, I'm sorry tonight didn't work out. I really wanted it to."

"Shh, you already apologized several times, and I already said it's fine. Just dance with me" she whispered, putting a finger to his lips.

She placed his hands on her hips and then put hers around his neck, pulling him closer. They swayed to the music together as she rested her head on his chest.

"This is all I need right here" she murmured in his ear.

He gently pulled away from her, looking into her eyes.

"You're incredible you know that?" he told her.

She smiled and kissed him.

"I love you so much Emma" he quietly said to her.

"I love you too Nick."

He let go of her, and took her hand. He wasn't going to do it the way it had been planned out, but he realized that no matter where he did it, it would be special and somehow being in the break room didn't matter anymore. He slowly dropped down to one knee, reaching into his pocket.

"Will you marry me Emma?" he asked, pulling out the ring.

She gasped and tears began to form in her eyes as she answered,

"Yes"

From the doorway, the team watched as Nick placed the ring on Emma's finger and the two kissed.

Sara sighed and walked away, giving the couple some privacy. She was done for the night and decided to head home.

Fumbling with her keys she opened her apartment door and flipped on the lights. Her mouth dropped open as she noticed the vase of roses sitting on her counter. She walked over and picked up the card that went with them, trying to figure out how they got into her kitchen. Shocked, she read the card twice. It said;

I do believe we should do something special today, even if it is an overrated corporate holiday. Happy Valentine's Day Sara.

"So do you still hate me?"

Sara nearly drew her gun as Grissom's voice broke the silence. He was standing in her bedroom doorway.

"I don't anymore" she replied walking over to him.

He kissed her lightly, and she drew him into an embrace.

"So what are we doing?" Sara asked.

Grissom raised an eyebrow at her, kissed her again, then pulled her into the bedroom.

****

Sorry that this story and my other ones have been horribly neglected. I just have no time right now with school keeping me busy. As it is, it's really late at night right now, and I need to go to bed. Thank goodness reading week is coming, and hopefully I will update "Truth in the Matter/Truth of the Matter" then. I may add another chapter to this one as well, but not as quickly. This is just fluff that I wanted to write for a certain date coming up. Sadly, my story has better plans then I do for Feb. 14th. Maybe I will call my friends for a single girls night. To all of you that do have some plans, Happy Valentines Day! (Please leave some feedback, its greatly appreciated!)


	6. Down the Aisle

Yes, I am back to writing/continuing my story, even though it's been a long time. School and assignments have been keeping me super busy, and as much as I would love to have posted more to my stories, instead I had essays to write. So here is my latest and fluffiest chapter of "Fragile." This instalment takes place lets say about 6 months after the last chapter. I know it's all fluff, but damn it, I am in a fluff mood. Enjoy!

Emma walked down the hall of CSI headquarters, glancing into doorways. Finally she spotted someone she knew.

"Hey Em!"

"Hi Catherine. Where is everyone?"

"If you're looking for Nick, he and Sara are at a crime scene. Warrick should be back soon…"

"I'm actually looking for Grissom."

"He was in his office last time I checked. How are the wedding plans coming? Big day is coming up soon" Catherine smiled.

Emma sighed. The big day was in fact approaching shortly. She still had a few things to take care of, one of which was the reason she had to see Grissom. But otherwise, almost everything was done.

"Nearly done with the plans. Anyways, I should go find Gris. I'll see you later ok?" Catherine nodded and said goodbye too while Emma continued on to Grissom's office. She saw his door open and him sitting at his desk. She knocked on the doorframe, and he glanced up at her, over the rims of his glasses. Grissom smiled and waved her in.

"What can I do for you Emma?" he asked her smiling.

"I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

Emma stopped for a second, thinking of the best way to phrase what she wanted to ask. She had a close relationship with the older man, one that was mentor and student, but after she had finished school and started as nurse, it had become something else.

"Grissom, you know I'm not close to my mom, and that I never knew my dad…you know traditionally at weddings…." She stopped, as Grissom started to give her an odd look.

"Go on" he said.

"Well I figure since your close with Nick and me, that, um, I was wondering if you would walk me down the aisle?"

Grissom sat in shock for a moment, thinking about what she had just asked him. It didn't take him long to answer though.

"I'd be honoured Emma."

Tears clouded her eyes as she got up to hug him. Their relationship had become something else; father and daughter. Grissom had taken her under his wing, and she found that even though they weren't biologically related, he was someone she could talk to, someone who could teach her new things, and someone who loved her in a way that only a parent could.

"Thank you" she whispered into his shoulder.

People talked in hushed tones as they waited. Suddenly their attentions turned to the front of the room as three men in tuxedos entered with a priest. Greg patted Nick on the shoulder as he looked up at the senior CSI.

"Nervous?" he asked.

"Not really" replied Nick, who surveyed the crowd.

"You are not a good liar dude" Warrick chuckled, patting Nick on the back.

The beginning of Canon in D filled the church with music. The men all looked back at the double doors as one slid open and Catherine started down the aisle. A few seconds later, she was followed by Sara. Both women wore simple green dresses that they had picked out with Emma. The music began to swell and then the doors were both opened. Grissom appeared with Emma on his arm and began their walk down the aisle. Nick smiled widely at the site. Emma looked gorgeous in a strapless gown with embroidery along the top and waist. The dress had a small train, and she wore her hair slightly curled, half up. Her veil was long and simple, but suited her and the dress. She smiled back at him; her eyes alight with excitement and love.

"You're a lucky man," his best man Warrick, whispered to Nick. Nick walked down the steps to his wife to be. Grissom shook his hand, and then turned to Emma. She kissed him on the cheek and he pulled her into a hug. Then Emma turned back to Nick, and they took hands.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman…" began the priest.

The reception was small and simple. The guests danced as the bride and groom swayed in each other's arms. Catherine sat at the head table swirling the remains of her champagne in her glass.

"I was wondering if I could have this dance?" a deep voiced asked her. She knew who it was, and turned around slowly to face Warrick.

"Of course" she replied grinning. He led her to the dance floor and she wrapped her hands around his neck. They enjoyed the embrace for a few moments before he broke the silence.

"Do you think we should tell them about us anytime soon?"

"They're bound to figure it out sooner or later," she purred in his ear, dropping a kiss on his neck.

"If you keep this up, it will be sooner than you think" he laughed.

"Something tells me no one will mind," she answered, glancing at Grissom and Sara who were also slow dancing.

"So my place or yours tonight?" he whispered in her ear.

Hope you liked it. Short I know, but that's all I have time for. Hopefully more in the week to come. Byes. L


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